Nuances of Emotion
by liltrix
Summary: Annie sees some ex-classmates from her old high school while grocery shopping with Abed. Oneshot. Abed/Annie.


**A/N: Prompted by my friend, who suggested Annie encountering some old high school classmates while grocery shopping with Abed. Still not entirely sure how I feel about this one. D: Let me know what you think!  
**

* * *

Annie never really thought she would find grocery shopping fun, but doing it alongside Abed seemed to make it somewhat of an adventure.

A _literal _adventure, at that: each aisle, they would pretend to be different characters on a mission to select the best groceries. So far they had been Han and Leia, Batman and Catwoman, and even Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett.

Now, in aisle 4, Abed was Inspector Spacetime, and Annie was his companion Geneva, both searching for the best deals on groceries in order to avoid galactic war. Was it juvenile? Well, yes. Obviously. But it's not as if they were making a big show out of it. They were being quite inconspicuous, in fact: speaking in low tones, giving each other knowing glances. Besides, Annie felt she deserved some time to let loose once in a while, to have some fun. It was easy to do with Abed.

Putting some cans of soup in the cart, Annie started to steer it towards the next aisle. "I'm about to venture further," she said, looking back towards Abed and mustering up a look of determination.

"Be careful, Geneva," Abed said, putting a hand on her shoulder and nodding in the direction toward the fifth aisle. "There could be treachery about. Steer clear of Blorgons."

She grinned. "Got it, Inspector."

The fifth aisle was for baking; Annie perused the shelves slowly, considering buying some more flour, while at the same time wondering what character Abed would choose next. (They often played it like that, pretending to shop normally in the next aisle while the other would pass by and make a comment related to a new persona, and it would be vital to just go along it).

Annie had just taken a bag of whole wheat flour from the shelf when she heard it.

"_Hey… doesn't she look familiar?"_

She froze. Her insides tightened and her thought process came to a halt. Turning slowly, she saw two girls she recognized immediately from her old high school at the end of the rows of sugar. They were staring at her, but immediately averted their gazes when they saw Annie had noticed them.

Oh god.

She had to get out of here, and fast, before they realized who she was.

Annie stuffed the bag of flour into the cart, gripped its handle with sweaty hands, and started to make her way out of the aisle, passing the two former classmates, and nearly colliding straight into Abed.

He opened his mouth to say something, presumably in the voice of his next character, but stopped. She was sure her distress was written all over her face, because in a second he was Abed again, confusion plain on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked simply, a hint of worry in his tone that was only really perceptible by people who knew him well.

"I…" Annie found she couldn't get words out. She glanced back quickly, and saw the two girls trying to surreptitiously look over at her.

"_Wait, isn't that the girl who dropped out of high school because of an Adderall addiction?"_

"_You can't be serious-"_

"_Oh my god, this is hilarious! I mean, losing your scholarship and dropping out over that? How idiotic can you be-"_

The girl broke off with a snort of laughter, and though they were speaking in hushed tones, Annie could hear every word of it. She groaned inwardly, tightening her grip on the shopping cart. Glancing at Abed, Annie could tell Abed had heard it too- and then she did a double take. There was an expression on his face that she had seen maybe only one or two times; certainly it was subtle, all Abed's expressions were, but the fact that it was present at all was very startling. Abed looked… indignant. Nearly angry. Anyone looking at him would just assume he was a little annoyed, but Annie _knew _him: the subtle furrow of his brow, the tenseness in his shoulders, the slight downward curve of his mouth. It took a lot for him to outwardly express anything other than apathy, save a little surprise and joy now and then. (He expressed emotion all the time, just not obviously so).

Annie was so caught up in her surprise at Abed's reaction that she didn't have time to process the fact that he had started to walk past her and the shopping cart.

"_A_bed-" she whispered, trying in vain to catch his arm. He strolled easily by, walking right up to her old classmates.

"You two must be old high school classmates of Annie's," Abed said, his voice passive and his face now showing no emotion at all. The girls' jaws were slack with shock. "You probably weren't her friends, though, or else you wouldn't be cattily talking behind her back. It feels a little bit like a high school drama TV show like that mess of _Gossip Girl _(it really should have been cancelled by now, let's be honest). Here's the funny thing, though: we're not in high school. I guess that makes you seem even more like children." He stood and stared at them for a moment, and then began to walk away, but not before turning and adding, "Also, Annie Edison is the most intelligent and driven person I know. I think it's easy to see who the 'idiotic' ones are in this situation."

Annie was sure she looked as shocked as her old classmates, and didn't even protest when Abed grabbed her hand while striding past her, his face a blank mask. They walked out of the grocery store, not speaking. It was true Annie had heard Abed verbally abuse someone multiple times, but never really when he knew what he was doing. (She still remembered the day she and Shirley and Britta had gotten Abed to take down those girls in their class, but that had really spun out of control).

"I-" Annie started hesitantly, but was cut off.

"Sorry about that," Abed said, his eyebrows furrowed as if he was confused. "That was pretty cliché, I guess. I don't normally act on feelings. It was pretty out of character for me. And maybe wrong." He paused. "It felt good, though."

Annie sighed. "No it's- it's fine," she said, pretending to find the asphalt pavement of the parking lot ground very interesting. "Thank you. I didn't… really have many friends in high school, and obviously the Adderall fiasco made everything worse, during and after." She let out a little laugh, but it doesn't sound happy. "It's weird, though. I hadn't seen anyone from my high school since then. Well, besides Troy. I guess I thought I could leave it all behind me, at this point. But who am I kidding? I'm not even in contact with my family anymore."

She felt a faint squeeze on her hand, and blushed when she realized Abed was still holding it. Or was she the one who was still holding _his _hand? Annie looked up, and saw Abed looking at her with something she couldn't place. Her heart skipped a beat.

"You are leaving it behind you, Annie," Abed told her. "You're moving on, and you're maturing. Everyone has to go through stuff like this. It's growth. Like character development."

Annie smiled a little. "Yeah… well, character development kind of sucks."

Abed shrugged, his hand letting go of Annie's, and she immediately missed the warmth. "But you'll never reach the best version of yourself without going through it, first."

"I guess you're right," Annie relented. She was silent for a second, before exclaiming, "Oh! I forgot about the groceries!"

"That's okay," Abed said. "I like coming here. A character per aisle."

Annie grinned at him, and began to walk as he fell in step beside her. "I like it, too. Want to come back tomorrow?"

"Sure," Abed says, and he looks at her and gives her one of those small smiles that are so far and in between but never fail to make Annie's stomach flutter a little.

She smiles back at him, surprising herself by taking his hand again as they walked through the parking lot. He doesn't let go.


End file.
